Farfetch Parternship with BFC Fashion Trust

The British Fashion Council is delighted to announce that Farfetch, the international fashion website, will partner with the BFC Fashion Trust.

The Fashion Trust is a BFC charitable initiative founded in February 2011 to offer selected designers business support through mentoring and financial awards to promote the art and business of fashion. This philanthropic programme has been created and developed in partnership with its co-chairs Tania Fares and Kim Hersov, and the Founder Member Committee.

The announcement was made at a reception in London hosted by co-chairs Tania Fares and Kim Hersov; José Neves, Founder & CEO, Farfetch and Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive, BFC. The reception was attended by the Fashion Trust as well as industry influencers and ambassadors including Emilia Wickstead, Holly Fulton, Lulu Kennedy MBE, Mary Katrantzou, Nicholas Kirkwood, Susanne Tide-Frater, Tim Blanks and Yasmin Le Bon.

José Neves, said: ‘We are thrilled to be supporting the BFC Fashion Trust and to be raising awareness of the Trust’s work internationally. We hope that our team of experts across digital, e-commerce and global market expansion will prove invaluable to the designers we will be awarding grants to in May 2016.’

Caroline Rush CBE, commented: ‘It is particularly exciting for the BFC Fashion Trust to partner with Farfetch, a revolutionary e-commerce site that connects the best designer boutiques across the world. I truly believe that the next generation of designer businesses will really benefit from this partnership.’

Tania Fares, stated: ‘Since the inception of the BFC Fashion Trust we have seen designers go on to achieve great success and growth. The Fashion Trust has enabled them to further advance their brands in various ways and this is something that we will continue to champion. We are very excited to be working with Farfetch on this initiative and look forward to mentoring more British talent this year.’

In June 2015 it was announced that grants totalling £300,000 were to be split between nine designers: David Koma, Emilia Wickstead, Holly Fulton, Marios Schwab, Mother of Pearl, palmer//harding, Prism, Sibling and Sophia Webster. Previous recipients have used funds to develop stores, website/e-commerce and also in the production of pre-collections. This year’s designers will be announced on Tuesday 24th May.